Parent claims 'elf murder' school project gave her child nightmares

A primary school has faced criticism for staging an elf murder as part of a writing task for Year 4 pupils.

Flowery Fields Primary School in Greater Manchester set up a fake crime scene in one of its classrooms, featuring drops of fake blood on desks, an outline of an elf's body on the floor and areas cordoned off with police tape.

The Christmas-themed exercise aimed to get pupils aged eight and nine more engaged with writing by piecing together clues, but a handful of parents reportedly complained that their children had been left "traumatised".

One parent told The Manchester Evening News that her daughter was "very upset" and had suffered nightmares as a result of the task, and claimed other children in the group were also "very unsettled".